-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The leader of a shuttering Ohio coal mining operation on Friday blamed the Obama administration for the shutdown and for hurting the economy generally with he called a `` war on coal , '' an assertion the White House pushed back on as false and misleading .

OhioAmerican Energy , which is a subsidiary of Murray Energy Corporation , issued a statement announcing its coal mining operations near Brilliant , in southeastern Ohio , would be closing five years earlier than expected .

Its founder , Robert Murray , personally went to tell the operation 's employees there that they were being laid off . The company said that the operation employed 239 people `` at its peak , '' though there were no firm numbers as to the number that lost their jobs Friday beyond that 32 would be reassigned to other positions .

Company leaders -- who have been donors to Republicans -- claimed the `` regulatory actions by President Barack Obama and his appointees and followers -LRB- are -RRB- the entire reason '' for the closure . In fact , they predicted more layoffs to come unless there is a major shift in the political landscape .

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`` There will be additional layoffs , not only at Murray Energy , but also throughout the United States coal industry due to Mr. Obama 's ` war on coal ' and the destruction that it has caused so many jobs and families in the Ohio Valley area and elsewhere , '' Murray said .

Yet White House spokesman Clark Stevens rebutted that view , pointing to `` flexibilities for clean coal standards over the last three years '' and the fact U.S. coal production is on the upswing . There were more U.S. coal miners working this year , for instance , than any year since 1997 and U.S. coal exports rose 31 % over the previous year , he said .

`` The president has made clear that coal has an important role in our energy economy today , and it will in the future , '' Stevens said . '' -LRB- That -RRB- is why the administration has worked to make sure that , moving forward , we can continue to rely on a broad range of domestic energy sources from oil to gas , to wind and solar , to nuclear , as well as clean coal . ''

Ohio is considered a key swing state in this fall 's presidential election , in which Obama faces presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney .

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Top Murray Energy officials had made their allegiances clear before the announcement : Murray , the corporation 's CEO , is a major GOP donor having donated more than $ 150,000 to Republicans in 2012 alone , and Murray Energy 's political action committee has similarly given Republicans upwards of $ 100,000 in the past year .

Stanley Piasecki , the superintendent of the closing OhioAmerican Energy coal mine , claimed Thursday that Obama and Vice President Joe Biden both intend to `` destroy so many lives and family livelihoods in this area for no benefit whatsoever . ''

Yet Brandon Unklesbay , the manager of Southeastern Equipment in Brilliant , said he did n't believe the coal mining operations closure will negatively impact the area or its businesses .

`` It 's not going to hurt my business , '' Unklesbay said .

David Celebrezze , director of Air and Water Special Projects with the environmental group the Ohio Environmental Council , said that he and his group favor clean energy measures and curing what he described as Ohio 's addiction to coal .

Many of the coal-related regulations being enforced now , he said , are `` not really new '' -- having been passed , in some form , in 1990 as part of the Clean Air Act . Rather than pay lobbyists to fight such rules or to inject themselves into the 2012 presidential race , Celebrezze said he 'd prefer that utilities focus first on `` cleaning up their act '' so that residents can breathe , and live , better .

`` We do n't think that public health should be used as a political football , '' he said .

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CNN 's Maxwell Caron , Adam Aigner-Treworgy and Greg Botelho contributed to this report .

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OhioAmerican Energy 's coal mining operation near Brilliant , Ohio , is shuttering 5 years early

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Obama 's regulatory actions are `` the entire reason '' for the closure , the company says

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The White House denies a `` war on coal , '' noting recent jumps in coal production and exports

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`` Public health should -LRB- not -RRB- be used as a political football , '' an environmentalist says